DES MOINES — Vice President Dick Cheney took issue with what he said was John Kerry’s indecisiveness and threat to homeland security during a campaign stop Tuesday.

Cheney and his wife, Lynne, addressed a crowd of about 450 Tuesday morning in a town hall meeting at the Embassy Suites Hotel.

ISU College Republicans President Louis Kishkunas was a volunteer at the invitation-only event.

“I think the Bush campaign is trying to demonstrate a big contrast — and rightfully so — between how they run things and their successes and John Kerry’s record,” Kishkunas said.

“[Kerry’s] message seems to change without end. The message of the president and the vice president seems to be resonating for a lot of voters.”

The event began with a video timeline of excerpts outlining Kerry’s “flip-flop” position on the war — from his voting for it, to his voting against the funding for it, to his saying that he was against it.

“Initially, [Kerry] voted for the resolution to authorize the president to use force against Saddam Hussein, but then, a few months later when it came time to vote for the funds, the president requested to equip the troops with what they needed once they’d been committed to combat, he voted no,” Cheney said.

Only four members of the U.S. Senate voted to commit the troops and not for the funding; Kerry and his running mate, John Edwards, were two of them, Cheney said.

Cheney also emphasized the importance of homeland security.

“[Sept. 11] in effect has changed a lot about what we do as a nation, both in terms of how we think about defending ourselves, what the threat is and how we deal with national security issues,” he said.

“It also has had a big impact here domestically as well … it’s been at the heart of what we’ve had to deal with economically.”

Story County Auditor Mary Mosiman said that she thought the message that Cheney had was very positive and a vision for the future.

“Homeland security, I believe, is one of the focuses of this upcoming campaign and on just about everybody’s mind, largely because of the situation we are in in Iraq.” Mosiman said.

“Everything changed in our country because of [Sept. 11], which was an attack on America, and I think it’s going to be one of the things on people’s minds when they go to the polls and vote.”

Mosiman said it was appropriate that Cheney focused on the issue of security, although she would have liked to hear him talk about energy issues while he was in Iowa.

Cheney expressed concern about Kerry taking over the situation in Iraq. It is important to allow the Bush administration to complete what it has started, he said.

Kishkunas said he was pleased with the event.

“I think it was good for [Republicans], just to kind of fire up the troops,” he said. “Just to remind them what could happen if they don’t work hard.”

Cheney had spent Monday afternoon at a picnic in Clear Lake, and left for New Hampshire after his appearance in Des Moines.

Bush and Cheney have visited Iowa more than 20 times since the campaign began, which is more visits per electoral vote than any for other state.